How long can you live with a ruptured spleen

What is a Ruptured Spleen?

A ruptured spleen is a life threatening medical emergency. It requires immediate medical attention. While surgery is not always necessary, timely treatment is critical. The spleen is a small organ in the upper left part of your abdomen. It plays an important role in fighting infection, supporting immunity, and cleaning the bloodstream of bacteria and old blood cells.

How long can you live with a ruptured spleen

Treatment for a ruptured spleen will depend on the seriousness of your condition. Severe injuries usually require immediate surgery. Many small or moderate-sized injuries to the spleen can heal without surgery. You're likely to stay in the hospital while your health care team observe your condition and provide nonsurgical care, such as blood transfusions, if necessary. You might have periodic follow-up CT scans to check whether your spleen has healed or to determine whether you need surgery. Spleen surgery is generally safe, but any surgery has risks, such as bleeding, blood clots, infection and pneumonia. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission. Check out these best-sellers and special offers on books and newsletters from Mayo Clinic Press. This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version. Diagnosis Tests and procedures used to diagnose a ruptured spleen include: Physical exam. Your health care provider will press on your abdomen to determine the size of your spleen and whether it's tender. Blood tests. Blood tests will evaluate factors such as platelet count and how well your blood clots.

Spleen pain is usually felt as a pain behind your left ribs. A CT scan can show any injury or damage to the spleen.

The spleen is located just under your rib cage on your left side. A ruptured spleen may release a large amount of blood into the stomach cavity. A ruptured spleen is a medical emergency that occurs as a result of a break in your spleen's surface. Your spleen, situated just under your rib cage on your left side, helps your body fight infection and filter old blood cells from your bloodstream. A forceful blow to your stomach — during a sporting accident, a fistfight or a car crash, for example — is the usual cause of a ruptured spleen. If you have an enlarged spleen, a less forceful trauma might cause rupture.

Surgical removal of the spleen is a splenectomy. Partial splenectomy is less common than removal of the whole spleen. These procedures may be done to treat spleen enlargement, anemia, cancer, ruptured spleen, and more. Emergency surgery is usually needed as a life-saving treatment after a traumatic spleen rupture. The spleen does not regenerate itself, nor is it an organ that is transplanted. While the spleen is an important part of your immune system , long-term care can allow you to live without it. A full or partial splenectomy can be scheduled in advance for the treatment of a disease, but an injured spleen must be removed immediately. There are two ways this surgery can be done:.

How long can you live with a ruptured spleen

Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, and Treatment. The spleen is a small organ located in the upper left quadrant of the abdomen under the ribcage well above and far left of the belly button. If you could see the spleen, it looks purple and squishy. It's considered a solid organ, meaning it's not hollow like a bladder or a stomach. Its consistency is more like a small version of the liver. The full function of the spleen is still under debate, but we do know it plays a major role in the immune system. Half of the spleen tissue is called the red pulp and is responsible for filtering out old and damaged red blood cells, and acts as a reservoir for platelets and red blood cells. The other tissue is the white pulp, which produces antibodies and is connected to the lymphatic system. A ruptured spleen refers to bleeding into the abdominal cavity from a torn or lacerated spleen. Most spleen damage is due to traumatic injury, but it can occur spontaneously if the spleen is inflamed or diseased.

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Executive Health Program. This organ is part of your immune system. Sometimes just part of your spleen can be removed, which is called a partial splenectomy. Page last reviewed: 22 February Next review due: 22 February Back to Health A to Z. About Mayo Clinic. Mayo Clinic; You're likely to stay in the hospital while your health care team observe your condition and provide nonsurgical care, such as blood transfusions, if necessary. Medically reviewed by William Morrison, M. Financial Services. The spleen is located just under your rib cage on your left side.

Federal government websites often end in. The site is secure. Since the s, the management of blunt splenic trauma has evolved from almost exclusive surgical management to selective use of nonsurgical management in hemodynamically stable patients.

In most cases, a ruptured spleen is caused by blunt force trauma. What does the size of your spleen say about your health, and when should you visit your doctor? It is a highly vascular organ where blood cells accumulate. This is because spleen removal weakens your immune system and can make you more likely to get an infection. Head Injury. This is a medical emergency that requires treatment in the hospital, including surgical intervention in some cases. You might have periodic follow-up CT scans to check whether your spleen has healed or to determine whether you need surgery. Initial evaluation and management of blunt abdominal trauma in adults. Open surgery is where one large cut is made. The spleen is located just under your rib cage on your left side. By Mayo Clinic Staff. Medically reviewed by Deeksha Seth, M. Health Information Policy.